Drilling has many hazards, Dr. Wilma Subra said gas waste is exempt from federal hazardous waste laws

Drilling has many hazards, Dr. Wilma Subra said gas waste is exempt from federal hazardous waste laws by Steven Fondo, July 15, 2012, Times Leader Correspondent
Subra explained that waste products produced in the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process are exempt from federal hazardous waste laws and regulations, even though up to 60 percent of all fracking waste that is tested is found to be toxic. … The water remaining in the earth after the drilling process in the Marcellus Shale Reserve contains a number of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals including benzene and formaldehyde, which can cause a host of serious illness in humans, Subra said. … “For years, the natural gas industry has been disposing of fracking waste in municipal sewage treatment plants,” said Subra. “The problem with this is that the plants are not designed to treat fracking water, and adding chlorine to the waste only produces additional toxic compounds.” … Subra, who appeared in the award-winning 2009 documentary “Gasland,” about the potential health and environmental hazards associated with the natural gas drilling industry, graduated from Southeast Louisiana University and is a past winner of the MacArthur Award for Chemistry. Subra was profiled on CNN’s Health Report; and was voted one of 2012’s “fiercest women” in 2010.

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